Sorted by date Results 1 - 24 of 24
The NOAA Fisheries Marine Mammal Stranding Network is still tracking the adult, well-traveled humpback whale entangled in line and dragging an orange buoy trailing behind about 30 yards. The network became aware of the entanglement on June 1, and is hoping for the right conditions to untangle the mammal or for it to free itself. On Sunday, a second sighting in local water resulted in three volunteer members of the Petersburg Marine Mammal Center (PMMC), attempting to untangle the whale. The M/V... Full story
Power service went down to southern Southeast Alaska communities, following problems at the Swan Lake dam site on June 8. The hydroelectric dam is one of two major producers utilized by Southeast Alaska Power Agency, primarily servicing the Ketchikan area. This year an effort is being made to raise the dam, a $10 million project which will increase active storage by 25 percent and yield between 6,000 and 12,000 megawatt hours annually. A five-megawatt load bank being used during the project experienced a problem with its cooling circuit, which... Full story
The Historic Preservation Committee became official after holding the first meeting in Petersburg earlier this week. On Monday, committee members gathered to set goals for the summer. "This is going to, just like history itself, take some time," said Janet Holten, who will serve as committee chair. The responsibilities and duties of the committee are developing a local historic preservation plan for presentation to the borough assembly for consideration and approval. They will work with other... Full story
June 17, 1916 – The work is in progress this week of fixing up 150 feet of Hogue's warehouse on the approach to the Citizens' wharf for the Gardner shrimp-packing plant. Lou Wing, who last season was engaged with the local cannery, is to be foreman of the new industry. The fishing and packing of shrimp is expected to start within the next week. June 13, 1941 – At the regular weekly meeting of the Chamber of Commerce on Monday there was not much new business under discussion. President Earl Ohmer made a report which will be of much interest to...
The Cooke family, which owns Cooke Aquaculture, has completed its purchase of Icicle Seafoods after a year long process, according to Nell Halse of Cooke Aquaculture. The deal was completed and announced on June 10. “The Icicle team is excited about the opportunity to join the Cooke family of companies and to be able to focus on the expansion of our footprint in Alaska,” said Christopher Ruettgers, CEO of Icicle Seafoods, in a release. “Cooke provides Icicle with a long term owner that is dedicated to the seafood industry. The partn...
Considering both sides To the Editor: When any entrepreneur is deciding to invest in a community, one would generally check with as many of the other investors first and assess any obstacles. A very successful business person once told me that “Just because you are willing to invest, does not make you a wise investor.” So how does one check in wisely with “all of the other” investors in a new enterprise, such as the case of recreational marijuana in a community where commercial sales have never been available before? You go to them and give the...
June 8 A power outage was reported. A caller spoke with an officer concerning a civil matter. A caller reported a reckless driver. A caller requested assistance. Brian G. Folloso, 31, received a citation for failure to yield. June 9 An officer requested a vehicle be moved. A caller complained about an abandoned vehicle. A caller reported two pistols were missing. A citizen turned in a gun due to ownership dispute. A caller reported a female stranger acting odd towards their daughter. June 10 A driver received a warning for inoperable...
June 14 Yancey Nilsen appeared telephonically before Magistrate Judge Burrell on a charge of undersized golden king crab. Nilsen entered a no contest plea, and received a $1,000 fine with $500 suspended, in addition to a $10 surcharge, and was given one year of probation. Kory Versteeg appeared before Magistrate Judge Burrell on a charge of undersized golden king crab. Versteeg entered a not guilty plea. A trial is set for Sept. 13, 2016. Kenneth Thynes appeared before Magistrate Judge Burrell on a charge of fishing in closed waters. Thynes ent...
The Southeast Alaska Power Agency (SEAPA) board held its regular meeting in Petersburg last week, with board members in attendance from Ketchikan, Wrangell and Petersburg. Much of the meeting focused on project updates and approving the company's FY17 budget. SEAPA CEO Trey Acteson asked the board to consider a motion to provide one-year notice to end the contract with Ketchikan Public Utilites (KPU), concerning operations at Swan Lake hydroelectric plant near Ketchikan. For Acteson, the move ma...
KETCHIKAN, Alaska (AP) – An independent ferry serving communities in southeast Alaska is struggling to come up with the funds to continue its service, and the operators are working with federal managers to figure out next steps. The Ketchikan Daily News reports the North End Ferry Authority’s Rainforest Islands Ferry service is currently on hold as the vessel gets repaired. The authority’s interim general manager, Robert Baker, says even if the ferry does get fixed, there will still be problems with getting it back into operation due to fundi...
The school board met for its monthly meeting Tuesday, and worked its way through a full agenda including the FY17 budget, changes to student handbooks and an activity fee increase. The Petersburg district, like many others in Alaska, is dealing with a tighter budget due to lack of funding. Karen Quitslund, director of finance for the district, presented the budget she’s been working on for months. The board approved the budget with a 4-0 vote, after receiving a summary. “One thing that’s definitely different about this budget, that I’ve...
Boaters from Homer to the Mat-Su valley can help protect salmon and other aquatic creatures and get discounts from popular businesses by doing so. A pilot program launched this spring is an offshoot of Cook Inletkeeper’s Clean Boating program that began in the Valley five years ago. “It all started with oil and gas pollution in Big Lake,” said Heather Leba, director of the group’s Clean Boating Discount program.” The Department of Environmental Conservation was doing water quality testing in 2006 and they determined that Big Lake was an “impai...
WRANGELL - The planning team for future development at Wrangell's former Institute site returned this week for a second round of public discussions. At a presentation Monday night, information gleaned from previous sessions in March had been narrowed down into three different concepts. Project lead Chris Mertl of Corvus Design was joined by architect James Bibb of NorthWind Architects and analyst Meilani Schijvens of Rain Coast Data. A surveyor with R&M Engineering joined them the following day...
Wrangell's tribal government is continuing to cooperate with Central Council Tlingit Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska on its baseline water testing of the Stikine River. Initiated in November by Central Council's Native Lands and Resources Department (NLRD), each month two technicians have headed upriver to collect water samples, testing them for their chemical and physical properties in order to establish average conditions. This information eventually may be used in the management of these...
JUNEAU (AP) — Alaska regulators were applauded Thursday as they approved the first licenses for legal marijuana growing and testing facilities — another milestone for the fledgling industry. Priority was being given to growing and testing operations to ensure that retail stores will have legal product to sell. The first retail licenses are expected to be issued later this year. Thirty applications were on the agenda Thursday at a meeting of the Marijuana Control Board in Anchorage. Two were for testing facilities. The rest were for grow ope...
Visitors will soon be able to request the last four daily permits for the Anan Wildlife Observatory this summer. Requests will be made by filling out a form at the front desk of the Wrangell Ranger District office. Individuals listed on the form must be physically present at the time of request, with the exception of family members. Weekly requests will be collected by Mondays at 4:30 p.m. and awarded on Tuesdays by noon. If several requests are for the same day, a lottery for awarding reservation space will be held on Tuesdays at 9 a.m. If...
Ben Gabriel Gross, 43 passed away on June 5, 2016. A celebration of Ben’s life will be held at the Sons of Norway Hall on Fri., June 24 at 4 p.m. A full obituary will follow....
Nolan Michael Gibb was born to Ariel Norheim and Derek Gibb at the Juneau Family Health and Birth Center on May 30, 2016. He weighed 7 lbs. 8 oz....
Caley Neil McCay, 43, passed away on June 5, 2016 due to natural causes. Caley was born on March 3, 1973 in Tacoma, Wash. to Rick and Jean (Martinsen) McCay. Two years later Caley became a big brother for the first time when his sister Tatra was born. The family then moved and lived throughout Southeast AK before eventually making their permanent home in Petersburg. After the family settled in Petersburg, Caley would become a big brother eight more times upon the adoption of his younger... Full story
Montana State University The following students were named to the honor rolls at Montana State University for spring semester: Ian Fleming, Abigail Johnson and Abigail Taylor were named to the Dean's Honor Roll. Clara Medalen, and Torin Pfundt were named on the President's Honor Roll with a 4.0 GPA....
